Custom Draft Guide: For Auction Leagues Only?

[Paul Hardball]

..... Do you RotoLab in addition to the CDG? Or just the CDG?

I don't use Rotolab, mostly because league etiquette is still pen and paper. But I've never heard a bad thing about rotolab, seems like a tremendous value. I use the CDG as a jumping off point for my draft prep. I tweak it for my league's preferences, jump up a few guys who have more keeper value than their actual 2012 value, etc.

[hgnyc]

Patrick where do you release on Friday. I rely on iTunes at the moment and sometimes it's late or mislabeled there. Whee should I look? Thanks.

[PD@HQ]

iTunes should be working, but not 'til Saturday morning. If you want the show quicker, look at the home page Friday late aft/early evening; I usually post the show link there as soon as the show is up and available so our HQ subscribers get a head start.

Or go to baseballhq.com and click on the link inside the "HQ Radio" promo graphic in the right nav -- it takes you to the HQ Radio page (baseballhq.com/category/radio/radio) and the shows are all there.

Or if you don't mind some manual typing, just enter this URL in your browser bar:

https://s3.amazonaws/baseballhq/hqradioDATE.mp3, where DATE is yyyy-mm-dd. So a show on Saturday (it's always dated for the Saturday, 'tho I upload it Friday) , Feb. 25, 201 would be https://s3.amazonaws/baseballhq/hqradio2012-02-25.mp3.

If you enter that link in your browser and hit enter and get a file error, the file's not there yet.

[JimTurkey]

Can you guys help me with the "Force Positions" and "Valuation Method" options? I've played around with both, but I'm still not sure what to choose for each one. To be honest, I'm not really sure that I understand what I should choose for each option and why.

[MattD@HQ]

the CDG start page has some explanations for the "Force Positions" and "Valuation Method" options; i will try to expand on them here.

Forcing positions means that the league's position requirements drive the number of players at that position who have positive value. (So as the example as the start page states, the top 24 catchers in a standard 12 team, 14 hitters including 2 catchers/ team league, will all have values of at least $1). If "Force Positions" is not checked, then the top 168 players (12 teams x 14 batters) will have positive values, regardless of positional eligibility (and many of those catchers, that were "forced" to have positive value, will now show their true, negative value as compared to the rest of the talent pool).

The Top Players Valuation Model works well for a number of scenarios (keeper leagues, Stars & Scrubs strategies, relatively shallow leagues, liberal free agent pickups), because it shifts the values for the top players slightly higher, anticipating a very strong value population in the end game. The Balanced Valuation Model works well for redraft leagues, Spread the Risk strategies, or situations where there is less talent in the free agent pool (very deep leagues, perhaps).

[JimTurkey]

Thank you for the response - it definitely helped!

Just one questions ... So one way to look at "Force Positions" is that if un-checked, you are seeing the best 168 players? If checked, the best 168 players are checked, but per your league's positional requirements? Is that right?

[RAY@HQ]

Just one questions ... So one way to look at "Force Positions" is that if un-checked, you are seeing the best 168 players? If checked, the best 168 players are checked, but per your league's positional requirements? Is that right?

Yup. It's the difference between top 168 regardless of position, vs a top 168 which includes exactly the number of C, 1B, 2B, etc you need to have rostered to meet your league's positional requirements.

[JimTurkey]

Thanks for the explanations guys - appreciate it!

[Paul Hardball]

@Forced positions....is there any consensus on which way is better?

I think I lean towards seeing the top valued players, and knowing that I need to fit in my league's position requirements. But I can also see value in seeing the top players with positions forced because that would lead you to getting some higher valued players later (because teams are filling position requirements).